The Tumi

Surgical perforation of the skull (trepanation) was common in certain regions of Peru at the time of the Inca Empire (made up of the Quechua, Aymara, and other peoples). For this purpose, they used instruments of bronze and obsidian, together with anesthetics extracted from indigenous plants.

One of the main surgical instruments was the “tumi,” a scalpel made of a copper alloy called champi, which today is regarded as the symbol of Peruvian medicine.